jdhmnovel Chapter 173 The Status of a Concubine
Chapter 173 The Status of a Concubine
After the locust control was successfully carried out in this county, Jun Mo and Yu Jiuer immediately brought the imperial envoy and others to the next county.
They followed the same approach in other counties and quickly started to control the locust plague.
Yu Jiuer was very anxious. She had to stop the locusts before they spread to Yinshan County.
Three days later, Eunuch Cao sent people to investigate and found that their governance results were indeed remarkable. He had to suppress his anxiety. Even though he was so anxious that bubbles came out of his mouth, he had to admit defeat and give them a few more days.
However, Yu Jiuer still underestimated the speed of the locusts' movement and their power to devour crops.
A few days later, when she returned to Yinshan County, it had been attacked by locusts.
On the farm, when the local people learned that Yu Jiuer had returned, they all knelt down in front of her and cried.
Wang Meng, a grown man, cried heartbrokenly: "I'm sorry, Miss Jiu, we were unable to protect the crops we planted, and they were all eaten by locusts!"
"We encountered a flood just as the crops were about to be harvested this year. We planted the crops with great difficulty and hoped to have food to last through the winter, but now we are hit by a locust plague!" Mu Xier sobbed softly, "God is going to destroy Yinshan County, and we are powerless to save it!"
"Don't be sad, I have a method to control locusts. Although I can't get rid of all the locusts immediately, as long as everyone works together, man will conquer nature!"
Yu Jiuer felt a sense of powerlessness in her heart, but she still had to force herself to comfort the people.
She came back secretly and couldn't let too many people know. She only summoned the people and managers on the farm who knew her as Yu Wushuang, explained to them the locust control methods, and then left quietly.
Before leaving, Yu Jiuer said to Mu Xier, "Didn't I write a letter of divorce for you and Wu Yan when I left Yinshan County last time? Now that you are free, you can pursue your own happiness like Wu Yan did. Why are you still staying in the tree house on the farm?"
Before Mu Xier could speak, Wang Meng was already eager to answer for her: "She likes the farm, she won't go anywhere! She'll farm here with me."
Yu Jiuer's eyes shuttled back and forth between the two of them, and she smiled meaningfully and asked mischievously: "Do I like you? Or do I like the farm?"
This boy, he had stolen her girl's away without her noticing?
When did he start digging?
Has she been cuckolded for a long time?
Wang Meng's face turned red as a monkey's butt, and he said shyly, "I like them all!"
"Don't talk nonsense!" Mu Xier glanced at Wang Meng, her face almost buried in her clothes in shame.
Looking at the eye contact between the two of them, the depression in Yu Jiuer's heart over the past few days suddenly dissipated. As long as everyone around her is happy, what else can she complain about?
"In that case, you will help me guard the farm! When I go to the capital to earn money, I will build a bigger brick and tile courtyard around the auspicious tree house, and then I will also build a nest for you."
After staying in Yinshan County for half a day, Yu Jiuer and Jun Mo had to leave quickly and quietly.
Due to natural disasters, man-made calamities, internal and external troubles, the people of Yinshan County would definitely starve in more than two months. She had to find a way to get the silver back as soon as possible.
The locust plague dealt her another heavy blow.
I'm so anxious!
After meeting up with Eunuch Cao, the group rushed to the capital.
While resting on the road, Eunuch Cao was still nagging at Yu Jiuer: "Miss Jiu, you have done a great deed this time. I am not an unreasonable person. I will report the truth to the emperor when I return and ask him to reward you!"
"Reward?" Yu Jiuer's eyes lit up and she asked Eunuch Cao hastily, "What reward do you think the emperor will give me?"
It would be great if he could reward me with hundreds of thousands of taels of silver!
But Eunuch Cao poured cold water on her: "Based on my understanding of the emperor, he might reward you with the title of concubine of Prince Jing's mansion."
"What?" Yu Jiuer was dumbfounded. She was thinking about the gold and silver jewelry in the emperor's storehouse. Could a broken status be used to make a living?
Eunuch Cao mistakenly thought that she was dissatisfied with her status as a concubine, and looked at her with contempt:
"Originally, the emperor only intended to give you the title of a maid. If you can be promoted to a concubine in Prince Jing's mansion for your meritorious service this time, it will be a great blessing from heaven. How dare you not be satisfied? You don't think you can even become a concubine in Prince Jing's mansion, do you?"
Yu Jiuer couldn't help but rolled her eyes and asked impatiently, "Under what circumstances does the emperor usually reward gold, silver and treasures?"
Eunuch Cao: “…”
He was really eye-opening. In the Great Dong Dynasty, there were women who did not care about the position of mistress of Prince Jing's Mansion, but were only interested in money?
If those noble ladies in the capital who are eager to marry Prince Jing knew this, I wonder what they would think?
Eunuch Cao gave Yu Jiuer a look of disdain: "How can we guess what the emperor is thinking?"
How could God be so blind as to allow such a greedy person to give birth to an imperial grandson?
waste!
Yu Jiuer didn't bother to pay attention to Eunuch Cao's thoughts. She was immersed in thoughts about how to fleece the emperor all the way.
Who makes him the person with the least shortage of money in the Dadong Dynasty?
If she doesn't want to pull him, who else can she pull?
But the old emperor has always been stingy. If she wants to get something from him, she has to put in more effort!
After much haste, they finally entered the capital three days before the birthdays of their two children.
The capital city is much safer than the outside world, so Jun Mo made an exception and opened the curtains on all sides of the car, finally satisfying the children's curiosity.
When the two little ones saw the bustling capital city from the carriage, they couldn’t wait to stick their heads out of the carriage, babbling and shouting, and dancing.
This caused the passers-by who were driven away by the Imperial Guards on the road to look sideways, wondering which important figure had entered the capital.
The two children are now babbling, and during this journey Yu Jiuer and Jun Mo finally had some free time to accompany the children and teach them to speak.
Xiao Jing'er is introverted and can only utter one or two words in half a day. She is good at pronouncing words like "gonggong, dongdong, dada".
But Xiao Xiner is lively and cheerful, and can already speak a complete sentence, such as: "I don't want it", "I like my father", "I want to eat meat", etc., which he can express clearly.
The team was unable to stay for a moment after entering the capital. Instead, the emperor, who was eager to summon his grandson, sent people to intercept them at the city gate and brought them directly into the palace.
Even the eldest princess, who had been suppressed by Jun Mo all the way, could only follow the team into the palace to meet the emperor.
The convoy had just entered Xihuamen when it suddenly stopped.
Yu Jiuer lifted the curtain of the carriage and took a look. Who else could the old man in front of her who was eagerly waiting to see his grandson be but the current emperor?
Yu Jiuer got off the car and greeted everyone.
"Stand up!" The emperor waved his hand nonchalantly, his eyes fixed on the two little figures who were kneeling on the ground and saluting in an orderly manner.
"Are these my little grandchildren? Come, come, come to your grandfather!" The emperor squatted on the ground and opened his arms to the two little ones.
Xiao Xiner showed her cute little teeth, ran into the emperor's arms with a smile, and gave him a kiss.
This little guy always welcomes everyone who greets him warmly.
The corners of Yu Jiuer's mouth twitched. Isn't this too impolite?
Could it be the effect of hormones that make blood thicker than water?
However, when she saw the emperor's eyes narrowed into a line due to his smile, she knew that he enjoyed it very much.
Compared to this, Xiao Jing'er was much more cautious. He looked at his mother first.
Yu Jiuer smiled at him encouragingly and nodded, and he walked forward slowly and threw himself into the emperor's arms.
But looking at his eyes, Yu Jiuer knew that her son was not capable of kissing in public.
His reserved brows and steady movements are very much like Jun Mo when he was a child.
The emperor, with tears in his eyes, hugged each one and kissed the one on the left and then the one on the right.
Then he stood up, holding them both in his arms, and walked straight towards his sedan chair.
After entering Chengde Hall, the emperor placed the two children on the dragon throne and played with them.
Yu Jiuer was terrified. If the censor saw this, her two children would be roasted on the fire on their first day in the palace!
Eunuch Cao was indeed an old man beside the emperor. He guessed correctly that Yu Jiuer had made great contributions in controlling the locust plague. As expected, the emperor simply issued an imperial decree on the spot, giving her the title of a concubine in Prince Jing's Mansion.
Yu Jiuer put on a smile, took the imperial edict, and knelt down in a pretentious manner to express her gratitude.
As for the two children, the emperor waved his hand and ordered someone to bring two large boxes of gold to them on the spot.
The moment the box was opened, Yu Jiuer's eyes were blinded by the light.
She stared at the gold with wide eyes, salivating.
But I remembered that Jun Mo said that the things awarded by the emperor to children can only be taken back when the children are fifteen years old.
It’s so painful to be able to see but not touch!
It took them more than two months to get here. The people of Yinshan County must have run out of ammunition and food by now, and must be tightening their belts to make ends meet, right?
Who told her to show off her ability in the first place, holding 100,000 taels of silver, and vowing to Jun Mo: "These 100,000 taels are enough, I will never use your silver. If one day I need to rely on your help to feed the people of Yinshan, it means that I am incompetent! I don't deserve their trust!"
Taking into account her so-called "self-esteem", Jun Mo did not dare to mention giving her money again.
It is already freezing cold in Yinshan County in November. The quilts this year are soaked in water and will definitely not be warm. It will be difficult to build a greenhouse without money to buy oilcloth.
The people were cold and hungry, and they were all waiting for her money to survive!
She was very anxious.
When you see the gold, you can't wait to pounce on it and take it for yourself.